Wireless telemetry electronic circuit board for high temperature environments

ABSTRACT

A circuit assembly ( 34 ) resistant to high-temperature and high g centrifugal force is disclosed. A printed circuit board ( 42 ) is first fabricated from alumina and has conductive traces of said circuit formed thereon by the use of a thick film gold paste. Active and passive components of the circuit assembly are attached to the printed circuit board by means of gold powder diffused under high temperature. Gold wire is used for bonding between the circuit traces and the active components in order to complete the circuit assembly ( 34 ). Also, a method for manufacturing a circuit assembly resistant to elevated temperature is disclosed.

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED DEVELOPMENT

Development for this invention was supported in part by Contract No.70NANB4H3042, awarded by the National Institute of Standards andTechnology. Accordingly, the United States Government may have certainrights in this invention.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention generally relates to a wireless telemetryelectronic circuit board and in particular to a circuit board that iscapable of operating in high temperature environments exceeding 300° C.and capable of withstanding forces up to at least 1000 g's.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The temperatures inside an operating gas turbine engine are extremelyhigh, often at levels in excess of 450° C. When it is desirable tomonitor the inside temperatures of components of the turbine, such as aturbine blade, or to monitor stresses placed upon such components duringoperation, a special sensing, amplifying and transmitting circuit isrequired. An effective solution to this problem is the use of wirelesstelemetry, such as that disclosed in published U.S. Patent ApplicationPublication No US 2005/0198967 A1 entitled SMART COMPONENT FOR USE IN ANOPERATING ENVIRONMENT; or U.S. application Ser. No. 11/936,936 entitledINSTRUMENTED COMPONENT FOR COMBUSTION TURBINE ENGINE and Ser. No.11/521,193 entitled INSTRUMENTED COMPONENT FOR WIRELESS TELEMETRY.

In these above-cited patent applications, the general concept of usingwireless telemetry is disclosed. The present patent applicationaddresses specific problems encountered when implementing suchtechnology.

Wireless telemetry circuit boards and components thereon that canwithstand high temperatures can enable the extraction of data fromstationary and moving components in high temperature environments, suchas those experienced in internal combustion gas turbine engines.Electronic circuitry offer the possibility for real-time monitoring ofcomponent conditions during operation of turbine engines, such asindustrial gas turbines, aircraft engines, and turbines used in the oiland gas industry. Knowing the condition of components in a turbineoffers many benefits, including optimizing turbine operation based oninternal engine parameters and enabling condition-based maintenance.Significant reductions in operation costs of advanced turbine enginesmay be realized by the use of monitoring devices. The current practiceof instrumenting turbine components involves mounting sensors tocomponents, running lead wires to routers and bringing large bundles oflead wires long distances out of the turbine to a monitoring location.The process is slow, labor intensive, expensive, and requiresmodification of many of the components of the turbine in order to allowfor the inclusion of all of the lead wires.

In order to realize the advantage of extracting data from such a sensorsystem, it may be required to place the data transmitter on the coolestregion of a hot component. This could result in the need for a wirelesstelemetry system that would function at temperatures exceeding 300° C.,such as at the root of a blade in the flow path of a turbine engine.Current state of the art circuits using silicon or silicon-on-insulator(SOI) active components are not capable of operation at such hightemperatures. Such a wireless telemetry circuit board would require apackage, a board, runs, passive devices, active devices and connectionscapable of operating at temperatures exceeding 300° C.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention is explained in the following description in view of thedrawings that show:

FIG. 1 is a partial perspective view of an exemplary turbine bladeillustrating attachment of electronics including the telemetry circuitboard.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view showing elements of thetransmitter assembly of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is an exploded view showing the elements within the hightemperature electronics package included in the transmitter assemblyhousing of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4A illustrates plan and side views of a transfer plate for securingthe circuit boards during the assembly operation.

FIG. 4B is a plan view of the alignment plates to be used with thetransfer plate of FIG. 4A for securing components in place during theassembly operation.

FIGS. 5A, 5B and 5C are perspective views of the assembly process usingthe transfer plate and alignment plate of FIGS. 4A and 4B.

FIGS. 6A and 6B are views of wire bonding techniques typically used inthe semiconductor arts.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing g-force analysis of a typical wirebonding.

FIG. 8 illustrates various conditions of the wire bonding undersimulated g-force stress.

FIG. 9A is an exemplary schematic diagram illustrating the uniquecircuit biasing for amplifier circuits used herein.

FIG. 9B is a chart illustrating the AC output voltage versus biasvoltage of the amplifier of FIG. 9A under varying temperatures

FIG. 10 is a block diagram of the strain gauge circuitry.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram of the thermocouple circuitry.

FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram of the circuit for amplifying a straingauge output signal.

FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram of the circuit for amplifying athermocouple output and embedding the local temperature of thetransmitter into the amplified output signal.

FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram of the power conditioning circuitry.

FIG. 15 is a schematic diagram of the FM transmitter including aColpitts oscillator.

FIG. 16 is a diagram of a representative thermocouple.

FIG. 17 is a waveform diagram illustrating the output of the square wavegenerator for the thermocouple circuitry at room temperature.

FIG. 18 is a waveform diagram illustrating the output of the square wavegenerator for the thermocouple circuitry at elevated temperature.

FIG. 19 is a waveform diagram illustrating the output voltage of thethermocouple as temperature is increased.

FIG. 20 is a waveform diagram illustrating the output of the chopper,which is the combined output of the thermocouple and the square wavegenerator.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Embodiments disclosed herein enable transmission of data via wirelesstelemetry by the use of an electronic circuit from regions of a gasturbine with temperatures ranging from ambient to greater than 300° C.,and including temperatures up to at least 450° C. All of the elements ofthe circuit and package therefore are to be fabricated from materialscapable of operation at temperatures greater than 300° C. Current stateof the art high temperature electronic systems are designed such thatthe control logic circuits are placed in a location cool enough to usesilicon-based electronics, or high temperature silicon-on-insulator(HTSOI) technology capable of operation at elevated temperatures up to amaximum of 300° C. In such a current state of the art system, thecontrol signals are sent from a region of relatively low temperature,via a wire, to a power amplification module that is located in the hotregion, at temperatures greater than 300° C. The power amplificationmodule is a circuit that would employ semiconductors designed for hightemperature use, such as wide band gap semiconductor materials includingSiC, AlN, GaN, AlGaN, GaAs, GaP, InP, AlGaAs, AlGaP, AlInGaP andGaAsAlN, or other high temperature capable semiconductor materials thatmay be used at temperatures greater than about 300° C. This type ofdesign strategy is not useful for incorporating instrumentation on arotating hot section component, such as a gas turbine blade, because theentirety of the transmitter electronic circuitry must be located on theturbine blade, and thus operate at temperatures exceeding 300° C. Newelectronic circuits are disclosed herein that enable both sensor signalacquisition and wireless transmission at temperatures greater than 300°C. and including temperatures up to at least 450° C.

The disclosed electronic circuit and package therefore are fabricatedfrom materials capable of operation at high temperature, for exampletemperature capable epoxy or ceramic materials, such as alumina,zirconia, silicon carbide, silicon nitride, aluminum nitride, etc. Theconductors are fabricated from metals that can withstand hightemperature without melting, such as silver or gold. Active and passiveelectrical components must be selected based upon the electricalrequirements and the temperature environment in which the board willoperate. High temperature passive components, such as thick filmresistors based on systems such as palladium, ruthenium, iridium,rhenium, multilayer ceramic capacitors such as NP0, COG and X7R may beemployed. High temperature capable inductors may need to be depositeddirectly onto the PC board supporting the electronic circuit, ifsuitable inductors are not commercially available. The activecomponents, i.e., transistors, diodes, etc., may be fabricated fromsemiconductor materials capable of operating at high temperatures, suchas those listed above. Connections between components and the electroniccircuitry could likewise be made from high temperature metals, such asgold or aluminum in the form of die attach, wire bonding, or any otherappropriate method. In the case where the limits of monolithic hightemperature bonding materials are exceeded, attachment may be performedusing alloy compositions. In order to reduce the temperature to whichthe devices are exposed during attachment, a eutectic alloy compositionmay be used for attachment, followed by a heat treatment to change theattachment composition to one with a higher melting temperature. Allmaterials on the board must be selected such that exposure to therequired operating temperatures does not result in chemical interactionsor compositional/structural changes that degrade the performance of theboard. A complete circuit capable of transmitting a signal from athermocouple or strain gauge sensor has been designed in accordance withthe present disclosure using the types of high temperature passive andactive electronic materials that are currently available or are underdevelopment.

With reference to FIG. 1, embodiments of the present invention allow fortransmitting sensor data from a rotating component, such as a turbineengine blade 20 having certain electronic components located on root 22of the blade, which operates in an environment having a temperatureexceeding 300° C. For purposes of the disclosure herein, the term “hightemperature” without additional qualification will refer to anyoperating environment, such as that within portions of a combustionturbine, having a maximum operating temperature exceeding 300° C.

Embodiments of the present invention provide components for use in acombustion turbine instrumented with telemetry systems that may includeone or more sensors, lead lines connecting sensors with at least onetelemetry transmitter circuit, at least one transmitting antenna, apower source and at least one receiving antenna. FIG. 1 illustrates theturbine blade 20, a wireless telemetry transmitter assembly 24 and arotating antenna assembly 26. Lead lines or connectors 28 may extendfrom one or more sensors, such as sensor 30, to telemetry transmitterassembly 24 when mounted proximate blade root 22. Lead lines 28 mayroute electronic data signals from the sensor 30 to telemetrytransmitter assembly 24 where the signals are processed by a telemetrytransmitter circuit formed on a circuit board contained within anelectronics package 34 shown in FIG. 2. Lead lines or electricalconnectors 36 may be deposited for routing electronic data signals froma telemetry transmitter circuit to the rotating antenna assembly 26.

FIG. 2 illustrates a high temperature electronics package 34 that maycontain a high temperature circuit board and form part of telemetrytransmitter assembly 24. The main body of electronics package 34 may befabricated from alloys with low thermal expansion coefficient such asKovar® brand alloy, an alloy of Fe—Ni—Co. The thermal expansioncoefficient of Kovar® alloy ranges from about 4.5-6.5×10⁻⁶/° C.,depending on exact composition. The Ni-based alloys typically used forhigh temperature turbine components, such as turbine blade 20 havethermal expansion coefficients in the range of about 15.9-16.4×10⁻⁶/° C.Electronics package 34 may be affixed securely in place while allowingfor relative movement between electronics package 34 and turbine blade20, as described below with respect to FIG. 2. This relative movementmay result from their different thermal expansion rates, which occurover time during the high number of thermal cycles between ambient airtemperature and the greater than 300° C. operating temperature typicallyexperienced proximate blade root 22.

The telemetry transmitter assembly 24, as best shown in FIG. 2, mayinclude a mounting bracket 37 and a lid or cover plate 38 withelectronics package 34 positioned there between. A plurality ofconnecting pins 40 enable connection between an electronic circuit boardcontained within package 34, such as one having a wireless telemetrycircuit fabricated thereon, and various external devices such as leadlines from sensors, induction coil assemblies or data transmissionantennae. Mounting bracket 37, cover plate 38 and retention screws 39connecting them together (shown in FIG. 1) may all be fabricated fromthe same material as is turbine blade 20. This ensures there is nodifference in thermal expansion between turbine blade 20 and mountingbracket 37, Consequently, no stresses are generated in mounting bracket37 or turbine blade 20 during thermal transients.

The thermal expansion coefficient of electronics package 34 may bedifferent than that of mounting bracket 37. When the operating systemwithin which these components reside is at a high temperature,electronics package 34, including any circuit board contained therein,that are formed of Kovar® alloy would expand less than mounting bracket37, which may lead to damage caused by vibrational energy in the system.In order to secure electronics package 34 within mounting bracket 37 toaccommodate the dimensional change differential between bracket 37 andelectronics package 34, a layer of ceramic fiber woven fabric 41 may beplaced between the electronic package 34 and the inside surface ofmounting bracket 37. Fabric 41 may be fabricated from suitable ceramicfiber, including such fibers as silicon carbide, silicon nitride oraluminum oxide. For example, a quantity of Nextel™ aluminum oxide basedfabric, manufactured by 3M, may be used for fabric 41.

With electronics package 34 and ceramic fiber woven fabric 41 assembledwith mounting bracket 37 and cover plate 38 to form telemetrytransmitter assembly 24, mounting bracket 37 may be attached to turbineblade 20 by a suitable means for attaching such as bolting, welding,brazing or via transient liquid phase bonding. FIG. 1 illustrates arecess or flat pocket 42 that may be milled or otherwise formed withinturbine blade 20 proximate blade root 22 for receiving assembly 24.

Cover plate 38 may be formed with a flange 44 oriented perpendicular tothe direction of G-forces, to add structural support to the cover plate,which counters the g-load forces occurring when rotating turbine blade20 is operating at full speed. This relieves retention screws 39 fromcarrying the load applied to cover plate 38 via g-forces, and allowsthem to be made sufficiently small so that the telemetry transmitterassembly 24 fits in the relatively small recess 42 with no interferencewith any adjacent components. If retention screws 39 were required tocarry the load applied by the G-forces, their required size would be toolarge to fit in the available space.

FIG. 1 shows that the rotating antenna assembly 26 may be affixed to theend face or neck of root 22. Assembly 26 may be an electronic assemblyhaving thermal expansion coefficients different than those of theNi-based alloys used for turbine hot gas path components such as turbineblade 20 including its root 22. One or more rotating antenna assemblies26 may be protected from windage during rotation of turbine blade 20 ator near the speed of sound. In an embodiment, the windage protectionmaterial is transparent to RF radiation frequencies in order to enabletransmission of power and data through the material. Embodiments ofrotatable antenna assembly 26 may include a durable, protective, RFtransparent cover 50 shown in FIG. 1, which is essentially a hollowfixture within which a data antenna and induction power components arecontained. RF transparent cover 50 protects its contents from thephysical effects of windage during operation of the combustion turbine.Certain ceramics are suitable for protecting RF transmission equipmentfrom the elements at elevated temperatures. However, many ceramics andceramic matrix composites are prone to chipping and cracking under thevibrational impact and G-loading that a rotating turbine blade 20experiences during operation of the combustion turbine. The inventors ofthe present invention have determined that RF transparent cover 50 maybe fabricated from an RF transparent, high toughness, structural ceramicmaterial. Ceramic matrix composites may be used to fabricate cover 50 aswell as material selected from a family of materials known as toughenedceramics. Materials such as silicon carbide, silicon nitride, zirconiaand alumina are available with increased toughness due to doping withadditional elements or designed microstructures resulting from specificprocessing approaches.

One such material that is RF transparent, easy to form, and relativelyinexpensive is a material selected from a ceramic family generallyreferred to as zirconia-toughened alumina (ZTA). Ceramic materialselected from this family of aluminum oxide materials is considerablyhigher in strength and toughness than conventional pure aluminum oxidematerials. This results from the stress-induced transformationtoughening achieved by incorporating fine zirconium oxide particlesuniformly throughout the aluminum oxide. Typical zirconium oxide contentis between 10% and 20%. As a result, ZTA offers increased component lifeand performance relative to conventional pure aluminum oxide materials.

The designed microstructure of ZTA is fracture-resistant when theceramic is loaded in compression. However, if loaded sufficiently intension, the ceramic will fail catastrophically, as with traditionalceramic materials. Consequently, RF transparent cover 50 is designed sothat the tensile stresses in the ceramic material are minimized duringoperation of the combustion turbine. This is accomplished by designingand fabricating such that (1) all corners, edges and bends of the ZTAcomponents are machined to eliminate sharp corners and edges, in orderto reduce the stress concentration factor at these locations, and (2)the orientation and fit of the ZTA component in a rotating antennaemounting bracket 51 is such that during operation the G-forces appliedto the ZTA box do not generate significant bending stresses in theattachment flanges. This is accomplished by orienting the flangesparallel with the G-loading direction, rather than perpendicular to theG-loading direction, so the ZTA flange is loaded in compression and notin bending.

Mounting bracket 51 may be designed so that all the G-loadingexperienced by rotating antenna assembly 26 during operation of thecombustion turbine is absorbed in a direction extending toward the upperend of the bracket 51. No portion of the mounting bracket 51 extends farenough past an antenna contained therein to attenuate the RFtransmission data signal. RF transparent cover 50 is secured in place soits internal stress field is primarily compressive and may be retainedusing threaded pins (not shown) through semicircular divots on itsflanges.

Mounting bracket 51 may be attached to a face of the turbine blade 22via conventional means such as welding, brazing, bonding, bolting orscrewing. An embodiment of rotating antenna assembly 26 may be assembledby placing desired antennae into the hollow body of cover 50 containingthe antennae with a ceramic potting material. The potted RF transparentcover 50 containing the antennae may then be slid into mounting bracket51, which may have been previously affixed to turbine blade root 22.Cover 50 may be secured to the mounting bracket 51 via pins inserted inthe mounting bracket 51 and divots in the cover 50.

Referring now to FIG. 3 an exploded view showing the elements within thehigh temperature electronics package 34 included within the housing 24of FIG. 2, is shown. Package bottom cavity 34A includes electricalconnecting pins 40 extending from an end thereof which connectors enablecommunication between the electronics inside the package 34 and externalsensors, sources and antennae. In order to function at high temperaturesup to at least 450° C., the package must be designed and sized tocontain the electronic circuit and its substrate, hereinafter PC board42. The package must be able to withstand the temperature andcentrifugal loading requirements and protect the circuitry on thesubstrate. Hence, the package 34 is made of gold-plated Kovar® alloy andthe electrical connecting pins 40 are made of gold. The gold plating onthe package 34 prevents oxidation of the Kovar® alloy, which can occurat elevated temperatures. The connectors 40 are insulated from thepackage by means of individual insulating sleeves (not shown). A pair ofthe pins 40 is coupled to electrical connectors 28, which communicatewith the sensor 30. A third pin is coupled to ground potential, whilepins 4, 5, 6 and 7 are coupled to a source of power (two each forpositive and negative ac). The last pin is used for coupling thetransmitter output (data) signal to the antenna 26.

PC Boards

The PC board 42 or substrate is preferably fabricated from materialcapable of operation at high temperatures, such as high temperaturecapable epoxy or ceramic materials, such as alumina, zirconia, siliconcarbide, silicon nitride, aluminum nitride, etc. The circuit runs (or“printed circuits”) are preferably fabricated from metals that work athigh temperature, such as silver or gold. The inventors chose a thickfilm process using alumina substrates for fabricating one embodiment ofthe PC board 42. The alumina substrates are metalized with a thick filmgold paste. These substrates performed very well at high temperaturesand were very compatible with the die attach process (discussed below).Dupont QG150 brand gold paste was chosen as the metallization. Thispaste comprises a high-density gold powder with a glass oxide binder.The PC board may be formed of alumina of 10-100 mils thickness. Thefinal substrates comprise 96% alumina substrates measuring 20 milsthick. High density gold paste was used as the conductive layer, andalso served as a surface capable of being soldered and wire bondedthereto. Printing capabilities allowed a line resolution of 5 mils.

The PC board 42 is assembled by the following process as outlinedhereinabove. The substrates are prepared utilizing a thick film screenprinting process. A specialized screen printer is used in conjunctionwith a patterned stainless steel fine mesh screen. The gold paste isprinted onto an alumina (Al₂O₃) substrate. After printing, the paste isdried in an oven at 150° C. to “bake out” the solvents in the paste.Next, the substrates are placed in a furnace and fired at 850° C. Duringthis process, the glass/oxide binders in the paste form a strong bondbetween the sintered paste and the alumina substrate. Multiple printsrequire multiple firing steps. In accordance with one embodiment, twoprinting/firing cycles (top and bottom side metallization) are employed.

Fired substrates are then cut out to the proper dimensions with a dicingsaw. The top print has the circuit pattern formed thereon, while thebottom print is a metal plane that has been “meshed” due to printabilitylimitations. The back metal plane will allow metallurgical bondingprocesses to be performed thereon.

Once the PC board 42 is completed and components attached thereto(described hereinafter), the PC board is then placed into the cavity 34Aand a 12-carat gold wire 44A, 44B is laser welded to the PC board andthe cavity for forming a retainer to secure the PC board in place.Holding the substrate into the package mechanically is of utmostimportance because of the high g-forces exerted on the package and itscontents. The retainer may be formed of a material having a coefficientof thermal expansion within 20% of that of the package in order tominimize differential thermal growth there between. It is feasible toadd a filler material into the package 34 and to spread it over the PCboard and the circuit components to help stabilize their placementduring operation. However, any filler used must allow for any expansionor contraction of the components and their connecting wires duringtemperature cycles. Finally, a lid 34B is secured to the top of thecavity 34A. In accordance with one embodiment, Kapton® brand polyimideinsulating tape was used to hold the lid 34B in place until it could bemechanically secured by compression. Another embodiment for securing thelid 34B is to weld it to the package cavity 34A.

As will be described in greater detail below, two different circuitlayout patterns for the PC boards 42 may be used. A first pattern isdesigned for a circuit that senses changes of temperature of a selectedcomponent of the turbine, wherein the sensor 30 is a thermocouple. Thesignal indicative of the component temperature is amplified andprocessed by the circuitry, then transmitted via an FM transmitter andbroadcast via an antenna such as the antenna 26. This type of circuitmay be used for sensors other than those measuring temperature, but thatalso produce a direct-current (D/C) output signal as a response, such asstatic strain, conductive trace, or chemical sensors. A second patternis designed for a circuit that senses dynamic strain occurring on aselected component of the turbine, wherein the sensor 30 is a straingauge. The signal indicative of the dynamic strain occurring on theselected component is amplified and processed by the circuitry, thentransmitted via a separate FM transmitter and broadcast via an antennasuch as antenna 26. This type of circuit may be used for sensors otherthan those measuring dynamic strain, but that also produce analternating-current (A/C) output signal as a response, such asaccelerometers or electromagnetic wave emission detectors An alternateembodiment uses a single FM transmitter that multiplexes multiplesignals for transmission to a single FM receiver configured to decodethe received signal into the two separate data signals. The PC board 42,as shown in FIG. 3, is partially complete in the illustration and isgenerally representative of the thermocouple circuit. Both circuitsinclude an open air core wire inductor coil L1, which is part of thetank circuit for the Colpitts oscillator of the FM transmitter, whichwill be explained further herein below. The quality factor Q of the coilL1 may be at least 5 at the operating temperature and operatingfrequency of the circuit. Sputtered gold or silver paste material may beused to form the coil; however, such pastes typically have a low Qvalue. The present inventors have successfully utilized gold or silverwire to form the inductor coil. The metal wire air core conductor may bepotted along its length to prevent electrical shorts at highfrequencies. Insulating tape may be wrapped on the potted wire where itcrosses itself so as to prevent electrical shorts. Alternatively, themetal wire may be formed into a bridge at cross over points thereof inorder to prevent electrical shorts. In order to increase the mechanicalstrength and stability of such a coil, a potting material may be placedaround the wire, although any such potting material will necessarilyaffect the Q factor of the coil. In one embodiment, gold wire pottedwith a ceramic alumina paste suspension (such as Ceramabond® brandceramic cement) provided a desired degree of structural stability at gasturbine operating temperatures and G forces and provided a Q factor ofgreater than 5. Such an alumina-based potting also acts as an electricalinsulator for the coil, so no separate electrical insulation is requiredaround the wire itself.

Die/Component Attachment

In order for the electronic package to function at elevated temperaturesup to at least 450° C. and to withstand centrifugal loading greater than1000 g's, special requirements are to be met for attaching components tothe PC board 42. All bonds are performed in a vacuum oven for assuranceof proper reflow of the solder. The inventors have appreciated a majorproblem that may be encountered when the component being soldered has atrivial mass. If the mass of the component is very small, it may beunable to break the surface tension of the liquid alloy as it beads up,and the component part may be pushed off the solder and slide to anotherposition, or it may tilt at an angle (called “tomb stoning”).

To overcome this problem, the present inventors have developed anapproach utilizing a transfer plate and component alignment templatesthat fit in the heated fixture of the vacuum oven. A transfer plate 60is shown in plan and elevation views in FIG. 4A and a pair of componentalignment plates 61 and 62 are shown in FIG. 48, also in plan view. FIG.4A illustrates plan and end views of the transfer plate 60 used inassembling the PC board 42 shown in FIG. 3. The plate is made ofgraphite and is sized and shaped for receipt of the substrate (PC board)and the alignment plates 60, 61 for aligning the components to beattached to the PC board during the assembly operation. The alignmentplates 60, 61 must be capable of withstanding high-temperatures, must beinert and resistant to solder, and must be capable of defining highlyprecise cutouts for the components. Accordingly, alloy 316 stainlesssteel may be used to fabricate these plates. Due to the small size ofthe cutouts and the need for high precision, laser cutting may be usedfor fabrication.

The next concern is the formulation of the solder for attaching thecomponents to the PC board 42. The material must be compatible with thedie metallization (Au thin film) and the substrate metallization (Authick film).

Brazing, which is a relatively straightforward process involving themelting of a high temperature filler metal in between two wettingsurfaces, was found to be less than optimal for the present applicationdue to three primary factors: (1) most brazes have a liquidustemperature over 700° C. and require highly corrosive fluxes; (2) manybrazing alloys are not eutectic and have a very large plastic regionwhich may complicate processing; and, (3) most brazes are not compatiblewith gold surfaces.

The inventors also found Transient Liquid Phase (TLP) bonding to be lessthan optimal. In this process, a low melting point alloy is liquefiedbetween two compatible surfaces. As the alloy fills in the gaps betweenthe faying surfaces, it acts to “dissolve” or “leach” away compatiblemetals. This action changes the composition of the alloy, therebyshifting the melting point of the filler, resulting in solidificationand an extremely high quality bond. The primary requirement of thisprocess is that the surfaces being bonded to are thick while the moltenalloy layer is extremely thin. When this process was applied to platedthin film (20 microns thick) and thick film (25 microns thick)substrates, the inventors found a very large inconsistency in theresults with many not passing acceptance requirements.

The inventors have discovered that a solid state diffusion processutilizing pure gold is useful for the present application. In thisprocess, no liquid metal is utilized. Instead, the rapid self diffusionproperty of gold is used to create a very high quality bond between twopure gold surfaces. While solid state diffusion may be performed with nofiller material, it typically requires very high pressures to compressthe facing surfaces together to obtain suitable contact area. In lieu ofsuch pressure, the inventors selected a gold filler material to fill inthe gaps between the bonding surfaces. Both gold foil and powder wereinvestigated, with powder proving to be the better option, due to itsability to both fill in the gaps and to form a solid, homogeneous layerunder heating due to sintering. Sintering is a process utilizingdiffusion to join two small particles together into a solid matrix. Thisis generally performed at elevated temperature to increase the rate ofdiffusion. While the solid state diffusion process may be performed witha gold powder, it was further discovered that a gold paste was easier touse in this application. A paste may be applied by a number of methods,including dispensing, stamping, and screen printing. The majordifference between a gold paste and a gold powder is that the paste hasboth an organic vehicle (such as polymers, terpineol, or glycol ethers)which acts as a transfer medium so that the powder may be easilyapplied, and surfactants that act to separate the powders until bondingis desired.

A number of gold thick film pastes were selected for use. While thepaste has other additives (oxide based binders and glass frits) whichwill provide no adhesion to a pure gold layer, they are compatible withalumina substrates and thick film gold metallization. Additionally,these pastes are readily available, contain small high purity goldpowder, and are designed for easy application. While many gold pasteshave proved compatible, the best performing option was found to beDuPont QG 150, which is the paste with the highest gold compositionavailable. This is the same paste used to metalize the substrate, andthus is very compatible with the entire system. In this process, the dieand components are placed upon the gold metalized substrate with a smallamount of the QG 150 gold paste. The assembly is then placed in an ovenat 400° C. for 12 hours. During this time, the gold-gold diffusion takesplace between neighboring gold particles and between the particles andthe bonding surfaces. The resulting bond is very strong and capable ofwithstanding temperatures well above 500° C. Additionally, the processis straightforward, fast, repeatable, and may be performed on very smallcomponents.

Referring now to FIGS. 5A, 5B and 5C, perspective views of the transferplates used for aligning and assembling the components on the circuitboard are shown. First, the substrates or PC boards 42 are placed in thecavities of the transfer plate 60. Next, the alignment plates 61, 62 areplaced over the substrates. The component attachment gold paste is thenplaced in the openings of the alignment plates and the components arethen placed in the openings of the alignment plates 60, 61 for theassembly operation. The transfer plate 60 along with the substrates,alignment plates, gold paste and components are sandwiched betweenheated graphite plates 65, as shown in FIG. 5C. The assembly is nextplaced in an oven at 400° C. for 12 hours. During this time, gold togold diffusion takes place, and the die and components remain attachedwith a high shear strength at temperatures greater than 500° C. Theprocess is made repeatable by a pick-and-place machine that properlyaligns the die and components.

Wire Bonding

Wire bonds are the standard method used in many electronic applications;however, they are not known by the inventors to be employed in anenvironment that subjects them to such high sheer forces (i.e.,g-loading) while at high temperatures. Referring now to FIGS. 6A and 6B,wire bonding techniques typically used in the semiconductor arts areshown. FIG. 6A illustrates the foot and heel of each end of the bondingwire, and FIG. 68 illustrates the terms “loop height” and “bond length”.FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing g-force analysis of a typical wirebonding, wherein the g forces are applied from four differentdirections. First, there are two possible forces in opposite directionsacross the wire bond (i.e. in directions parallel to the wire) that arelabeled as the X and −X direction, and then there are two possibleforces in opposite directions into the wire bond (i.e. in directionsperpendicular to the wire) that are labeled as the Z and −Z direction.FIG. 8 illustrates diagrams of the wire bonding showing deformation ofthe wire under simulated g-force stress in these various directions. Theinterconnect technology used to connect integrated circuits to a PCboard is a critical component to any electronic system.

Under high g-forces, it is normally expected that the wire bonds woulddeflect to a certain degree from their original position. The presentinventors have unexpectedly discovered that it is possible to utilizegold wire bonds in the high temperature and high g environment of thepresent invention. It was found that loading of the wire bond in the Xdirection (Load Set 2 in FIG. 8) resulted in the least overall stressesin the wire. Gold wire bonds of both 0.7 and 1.0 mil diameter have beenused. It has been shown that both diameters of wire bonds will bestructurally stable if they are oriented parallel to the centrifugalloading, the maximum loop height is no greater than 17.4 mil, and themaximum bonding length (from bonding pad to bonding pad) is kept under35 mil. These results are acceptable for loadings of greater than 1,000g's, and in fact, were tested to be acceptable to loadings over 10,000g's. The wire properties, loop height, bonding length and temperatureall affect the maximum sustainable G-load of the wire bond.

Electronics

Referring now to FIG. 9A, an exemplary schematic diagram is shown thatillustrates the unique circuit biasing for amplifier circuits usedherein. The function of the bias circuit is to place the JFET's into theproper area of operation. For a JFET, the places of operation can bevarious points within the ohmic region, where the JFET behaves as asmall resistor, or within the saturation region, where the JFET behavesas a voltage controlled current source. Different biasing points lead todifferent JFET behavior; even different points within the same region.Many of the JFET's characteristics change when the JFET is operated overthe temperature range of 25° C. to 500° C. Of specific interest hereinis the fact that the device is going to exhibit less gain at hightemperature than at low temperature. Another important change is thecharacteristics of the JFET performance over temperature, which is thedownward (more negative) shift of the JFET threshold voltage overincreasing temperature, which is demonstrated in the diagram of FIG. 9B.

Structurally, the amplifier circuit shown in FIG. 9A includes a voltagedivider network comprising RB_1 and RB_2 serially coupled between asource of positive voltage V(+) and source of negative voltage V(−). Acircuit node 1000 connecting RB_1 to RB_2 is coupled to one side of aninput capacitor C_1 and to the gate terminal of a JFET Q1. The otherside of C_1 is coupled to the input terminal V(in). The source terminalof the JFET Q1 is coupled to ground potential, and the drain terminalthereof is coupled to one side of a load resistor RD. The other side ofthe resistor RD is coupled to the source of positive voltage V(+). Thedrain terminal of Q1 is also coupled to the output terminal V(out)through another capacitor C_2.

FIG. 9B illustrates the changing level of AC output voltage versus biasvoltage of the amplifier of FIG. 9A under varying temperatures. That is,the level of voltage on the node 1000 is plotted on the horizontal axisof FIG. 9B, and the resulting output voltage V(out) is plotted on thevertical axis. Curve 1001 represents the output voltage at a temperatureof 25° C.; curve 1002 represents the output voltage at 100° C.; curve1003 represents the output voltage at a temperature of 200° C.; curve1004 represents the output voltage at a temperature of 300° C.; curve1005 represents the output voltage at a temperature of 400° C.; and,curve 1006 represents the output voltage at a temperature of 500° C.

In a JFET common source ac amplifier (e.g., FIG. 9A), there is a narrowrange of bias voltage that results in the highest ac voltage gain.Accordingly, as may be seen from this figure, there is a decreased gainover temperature that results in a lower maximum ac output voltage.Also, it is shown that the bias point where the maximum peak-to-peakoutput voltage occurs shifts to the left (more negative dc gate biasvoltage with increased temperature). The ideal biasing circuit willtrack the peak thereby providing optimal performance. Hence, it isdesirable to adapt the biasing dc voltage with temperature changes.

The resistors RB_1 and RB_2 set the dc operating point of the gate tosource voltage (Vgs) of the common source amplifier (FIG. 9A), which isthe same voltage as that depicted on the horizontal axis of FIG. 9B. Forexample, the bias point for the peak ac voltage output at 25° C. iswhere Vgs=−1.7 v. The resistor RD is the JFET drain resistor, whichhelps determine the voltage gain of the amplifier. Two characteristicsthat must be accounted for when biasing the circuit over the temperatureexcursion (of 25° C. to 450° C.) are the bias point set by resistorsRB_1 and RB_2, which should track the voltage results in the peak outputvoltage; and, the gain of the circuit should be increased withincreasing temperature. If the above two measures are taken, the outputcharacteristics of the device will remain essentially constant over thetemperature range of interest. This can be accomplished by designing theresistor RB_1 to have a positive temperature coefficient (PTC) ofresistance, while the resistor RB_2 has a zero temperature coefficient(ZTC) of resistance. A second approach is to give the resistor RD a PTCas well, so as to increase the amplifier gain as the temperatureincreases (resulting in a gain at high temperature equal to that at lowtemperature).

Temperature coefficients of resistance can be implemented in severalways. They can potentially be applied using surface mount thermistors orthey can be fabricated with different materials affixed to the circuitboard. There are many thick film pastes available that possess varioustemperature coefficient of resistance (TCR). In accordance with oneembodiment, the resistors RB_1 and RD are formed of TaN Thick Film,while the resistor RB_2 is formed of Platinum Thick Film.

Referring now to FIG. 10, a block diagram of the strain gauge circuit isshown. A signal indicative of the amount of strain placed on a measuredturbine component is produced by a strain gauge 101. This signal is thensensed by a differential amplifier 102 and coupled to an AC amplifier103 for further amplification The amplified strain gauge signal is thenapplied to the input of a voltage controlled oscillator 104, whichproduces an oscillatory signal the frequency of which is representativeof the strain placed on the measured turbine component. This oscillatorysignal is then buffered by a buffer 105 and passed on to the antenna 26for transmission to a conventional tuner (not shown) tuned to thecarrier frequency.

Referring now to FIG. 11, a block diagram of the thermocouple circuit isshown. A signal indicative of the temperature of a measured turbinecomponent is detected by a thermocouple 110, which signal is passed onto a differential amplifier 111. The output of the differentialamplifier 111 is passed on to a dc amplifier 112. The output of theamplifier 112 and the output of a square wave oscillator 113 (or squarewave generator) are coupled to inputs of a “chopper” 114. The output ofthe chopper 114 is coupled to the input of a voltage controlledoscillator 115, which produces an oscillatory signal the frequency andamplitude of which is representative of the temperature sensed on themeasured turbine component. This oscillatory signal is then buffered bya buffer 116 and passed on to the antenna 26 for transmission to aconventional tuner (not shown) tuned to the carrier frequency. Whereboth types of circuits are used on the same turbine, the carrierfrequencies would be different in order to avoid confusion between thetwo signals.

Referring now to FIG. 12, a schematic diagram of the circuits 101, 102,and 103 for amplifying a strain gauge output signal is shown.Modification of the traditional wireless telemetry circuit design wasrequired in order to accomplish the required tasks electrically with amore limited selection of available electrical devices usable attemperatures in excess of 450° C. A strain Gauge signal conditioning(excitation and amplification) circuit was designed using only one typeof transistor, a JFET with high temperature metallization. Theconnection of the metal bonding pads (i.e., gold) cannot be madedirectly to the semiconductor material, but must utilize an adhesionlayer, such as Tungsten, and perhaps adding a diffusion barrier as well.These metals comprise the “metal stack” of the die, i.e., hightemperature metallization.

Structurally, there is a voltage divider network comprising resistor R7and a Strain Gauge coupled between a source of positive voltage Vdc(+)and ground potential. Circuit node 1100 is the connection point betweenresistor R7 and the Strain Gauge, and is also coupled through acapacitor C4 to the gate terminal of a JFET transistor J1. Thetransistor J1 is biased by a pair of resistors RB_1 and RB_2, which arejoined at the gate terminal of this transistor, in the same manner asdescribed above with reference to FIG. 9A. Transistor J1 is half of adifferential amplifier that includes transistor J2. The drain terminalof the transistor J1 is coupled to the positive voltage Vdc(+) through aresistor R1 and the drain terminal of the transistor J2 is coupled tothe same Vdc(+) through a resistor R2. The source terminals of thetransistors J1 and J2 are coupled together and to the drain terminal ofanother transistor J3, which includes a gate terminal coupled to groundpotential and the source terminal thereof coupled also to groundpotential through another resistor R3. The gate terminal of thetransistor J2 is also coupled to ground potential. Therefore, any changeon the gate terminal of the transistor J1 will be amplified at the drainterminal thereof and coupled through a capacitor C1 to the gate terminalof yet another transistor J4, which is the first of three more stages ofamplification (ac amplifier 103) including transistors J5 and J6, withthe output of the amplifier provided at a terminal Vout.

A change in the strain placed on the component being measured, whichcomponent includes the Strain Gauge, changes the resistance of theStrain Gauge resistor, thereby changing the voltage at the gate terminalof the transistor J1. This changes the output of the transistor J1across a resistor R1, which is coupled to succeeding stages ofamplification by the transistors J4, J5 and J6. All of the resistorsshown in FIG. 13, with the exception of the resistor RB_2 (which has aZTC), have a very low (close to zero, slightly positive) temperaturecoefficient of resistance. Also, all of the JFET transistors are madewith high temperature metallization, as described hereinabove.

Referring now to FIG. 13, a schematic diagram of the circuits 110, 111and 112 for amplifying a thermocouple output and embedding the localtemperature of the thermocouple circuitry into the amplified outputsignal is shown. In this manner, the thermal gradient across thethermocouple, rather than just the thermocouple output, can betransmitted, thus giving an accurate temperature measurement. FIG. 16illustrates the thermocouple 110 coupled to the circuitry shown in theblock diagram of FIG. 11 (i.e., the thermocouple circuitry 201). Thethermocouple 110 output is shown as representing ΔT ° C. As will beshown and described further hereinafter it is the sum of ΔT ° C. and thelocal temperature of the thermocouple circuitry 201 that represents thetrue measured temperature of the turbine.

Referring again to FIG. 13, the negative leg of the thermocouple isgrounded, and the positive leg is connected to the gate terminal of atransistor J7, which along with transistor J8, forms the differentialamplifier 111. This differential amplifier is biased by the voltagedivider comprising RB_1 and RB_2 coupled together at the gate terminalof transistor J7 plus a current source formed with a transistor J9. Asdescribed hereinabove, the resistors RB_1 has a PTC and the resistorRB_2 has a ZTC in order to compensate for the high temperatureenvironment (see FIG. 9A and accompanying description).

Since the thermocouple signal is dc, or very low frequency ac,successive amplification stages cannot be capacitively coupled. Instead,a transistor J10 is used in the source follower configuration to shiftthe output of the differential amplifier down to the level at which thecommon source transistor J11 must be biased. The transistor J11 servesto further amplify the signal. Transistors J12 and J14 form anotherlevel shifting and amplification stage (dc amplifier 112). At thispoint, the output of the thermocouple has been amplified to anappropriate level. Now the local temperature of the thermocouplecircuitry must be embedded into the amplified signal.

Transistors J14 and J15 form a differential pair amplifier, biased by acurrent source formed by a transistor J16. Capacitors C0 and C7, alongwith resistors R18, R19 and R20 form a −90° to +90° phase shift network.This phase shift network is connected at one end of the amplifier inputat the transistor J15, and the other end is coupled to the output of theamplifier (the drain terminal of the transistor J14), which comprises anRC feedback network. This configuration forms a relaxation type RCoscillator (square wave oscillator 113). Capacitors C6 and C7 are NP0type capacitors, and their capacitance does not change appreciably overthe temperature excursion of 25° C. to 450° C. An NP0 capacitordielectric has a negative-positive-zero temperature coefficient ofcapacitance, wherein the positive and negative temperature coefficientscancel one another out. Capacitor C8 is coupled in series between the RCfeedback network and the output of the differential amplifier at thedrain terminal of transistor J14. This capacitor is made with an X7Rdielectric, and thus its capacitance changes predictably withtemperature changes. X7R is a capacitor dielectric that has a higherdielectric constant than does the NP0 dielectric, but has a largecapacitance dependence on temperature (which is predictable). The outputof this oscillator is a square wave with a frequency determined by thetemperature dependent capacitor C8; thus, the local temperature of thethermocouple circuitry may be encoded into the square wave signal. (Seethe oscillator 113 output waveform 210 shown in FIG. 17 at roomtemperature; and the same oscillator output waveform 212 at an elevatedtemperature, shown in FIG. 18). A transistor J27 serves as a choppertransistor (i.e., chopper 114). The amplified thermocouple output fromthe transistor J13 (waveform 214 in FIG. 19) is coupled to the drainterminal of the transistor J27, while the square wave oscillator outputis coupled to the gate terminal of the same transistor J27. The sourceof the transistor J27 provides a square wave output, whose amplitude isproportional to the temperature of the thermocouple 110 and whosefrequency is proportional to the temperature of the thermocouplecircuitry (see waveform 216 shown in FIG. 20). Thus, the signal containsthe thermocouple output plus the temperature of the thermocouplecircuitry, which signal is applied to the voltage controlled oscillator115.

By way of example of operation of the thermocouple 110 and its circuitry113, assume that the temperature of the circuitry 113 is at 25° C. andthe corresponding output of the oscillator 113 is at a frequency of 1.62kHz (waveform 210, FIG. 17). Also, assume for the particularthermocouple 110 being used that a 12 mv output voltage (waveform 214,FIG. 19) corresponds to a ΔT of 320° C. Now, assume that the temperatureof the circuitry 113 is 325° C. and the output of the oscillator 113 is5.44 kHz (waveform 212, FIG. 18). By combining the waveforms 212 and 214with the transistor J27, the resultant output of the transistor J27(i.e., output of the circuit) is illustrated by the waveform 216. Thus,the resulting temperature measured is 645° C. at the hot end of thethermocouple. The frequency of the waveform 216 represents thetemperature of the local circuitry 113 and the amplitude represents ΔT.Accordingly, one skilled in the art can construct circuitry associatedwith the FM receiver (not shown) to perform signal decoding and additionoperations.

Referring now to FIG. 14, a schematic diagram of the power conditioningcircuitry is shown. A power conditioning circuit capable of rectifyingan RF input voltage, filtering and rectified voltage, and regulatingthat voltage had to be designed using only one type of transistor andavailable diodes. The circuit rectifies RF induction power provided bythe rotating turbine and delivers a positive and negative regulated dcvoltage. Details of the RF induction power generator are amplified inthe above-cited co-pending patent application entitled INSTRUMENTEDCOMPONENT FOR WIRELESS TELEMETRY. Structurally, diodes D5 through D8, aswell as diodes D9 through D11, serve as a bridge rectifier. An acvoltage on terminals Vac1 and Vac2 or Vac3 or Vac4 is full-waverectified into a dc voltage with a large ripple. Capacitors C9 throughC12 serve as filter capacitors in order to reduce the ripple to asufficiently low level. Transistors J17 and J21 serve as constantcurrent sources, delivering a constant current into resistors R26 andR30, respectively. This constant current going through a constantresistance produces a constant voltage, which is coupled to transistorsJ19 and J23. This constant voltage biases transistors J10 and J23 suchthat, after a threshold determined by the R25/R26 resistor pair orR29/R30 resistor pair, any increasing voltage at the inputs to thetransistors does not contribute to an increasing voltage at thetransistor outputs. The increasing voltage input is dissipated as heatin the transistors J19 and J23. Thus, the transistors J17 and J19, aswell as transistors J21 and J23 comprise low-dropout (LDO) voltageregulators. These regulators are repeated with the transistors J18 andJ20, as well as the transistors J22 and J24 to improve the net voltageregulation. The voltages are then supplied as either positive ornegative regulated voltages Vdc(+) or Vdc(−), respectively.

In accordance with one embodiment the resistors R26, R28, R30 and R32have a PTC, whereas the resistors R25, R27, R29 and R31 have a ZTC. Asdiscussed hereinabove, this arrangement of resistors compensates forchanges in bias voltages at elevated temperatures. In this way thecircuit self compensates for temperature variations and keeps thevoltage drop across the transistors J19, J20, J23 and J24 constant. Asdescribed hereinabove, PTC resistors may be made of platinum and ZTCresistors may be made of tantalum nitride. It is pointed out that thecircuit would also function the same where the resistors R26, R28, R30and R32 were made with ZTC and the resistors R25, R27, R29 and R31 weremade with a negative temperature coefficient (NTC) by the use of asilicon resistor, such as silicon carbide.

Referring now to FIG. 15, a schematic diagram of the FM transmitter(i.e., VCO 104 and Buffer 105) is shown. In order to create a frequencymodulated (FM) signal, a variable impedance device is commonly used toencode (i.e., modulate) information onto an RF carrier wave. A commonway to do this task in low-temperature circuitry is to use a devicewhose capacitance has a dependence on applied voltage. Almost all pnjunction diodes exhibit this characteristic when reverse biased; thatis, a varying voltage applied to a reversed biased diode affects changein the capacitance across the diode. For low-temperature radioapplications, a special diode, called a varactor, is used for thispurpose. The varactor is a pn junction diode, with a “hyper-abrupt”junction (i.e., a junction that is heavily doped to promote a largetuning angle) and is fabricated from silicon or gallium arsenide.

The circuit shown in FIG. 15 includes a Coplitts oscillator comprisingan inductor L1 and serially coupled capacitors C13 and C14, both ofwhich are coupled in parallel with the inductor L1. A transistor J25serves as the active device in the Colpitts oscillator. The carrierfrequency of the oscillator is determined by the value of the inductorL1 and the capacitors C13 and C14. A diode D13, which is coupled inparallel with the capacitor C14, serves as a voltage variable capacitor,or varactor, which modulates (i.e., encodes) an ac voltage onto thecarrier wave. The carrier wave is then capacitively coupled into atransistor J26, which serves as both a buffer transistor as well as apower amplifier. The cathode of the diode D13 is coupled to a circuitnode 1400 and the anode thereof is coupled to the ground potential. Thecircuit junction between the capacitors C13 and C14 is coupled to thenode 1400, which also comprises the input terminal V(in) to the circuit.The output of the circuit is then capacitively coupled into the transmitantenna (not shown).

In high-temperature applications, typical varactors cannot be used andare not useful in the FM transmitter of interest herein because thecapacitance of this varactor is non-linear over a range of applied biasvoltages at elevated temperatures. Hence, correct information could notbe recovered from the transmitted signal (identical frequency deviationswould not correspond to distinct tuning voltages). It was discoveredthat the problem was intrinsic to SiC itself, and thus no SiC devicewould achieve the desired result. GaN devices, which can function athigh temperatures (i.e., have a linear capacitance over the same rangeof applied bias voltages at the same elevated temperatures), wereexplored for use as the varactor diode D13. Gallium Nitride (i.e., GaN)is also a wide band gap semiconductor, with a wide band gap energy of3.4 eV@300 K (whereas SiC is 2.86 eV), meaning that it can function athigh temperature (in excess of 600° C.). The only commercially availableGaN diode currently available is in the form of a blue or ultravioletLED, which produced satisfactory results across the temperatureexcursion of interest herein.

While various embodiments of the present invention have been shown anddescribed herein, it will be obvious that such embodiments are providedby way of example only. Numerous variations, changes and substitutionsmay be made without departing from the invention herein. Accordingly, itis intended that the invention be limited only by the spirit and scopeof the appended claims.

1. In a combustion turbine engine, a circuit assembly for receivingsensed information about the condition of a turbine blade in the turbineengine and for transmitting said sensed information to a receiverexternal to said turbine engine, said circuit assembly comprising: aprinted circuit board affixed to the turbine blade and comprising analumina substrate and having conductive traces formed of a thick filmgold paste deposited thereon; active and passive components of saidcircuit assembly being attached to said printed circuit board by meansof gold, wherein at least one of said passive components comprises ametal wire air core conductor affixed to said circuit traces of saidprinted circuit board for forming an inductive element of said circuitassembly; and, gold wire bonding between said circuit traces and saidactive components in order to complete said circuit assembly, said goldwire bonding having a longitudinal axis being oriented parallel to alongitudinal axis of the turbine blade; where said metal wire air coreconductor comprises a coil of gold or silver wire covered along itslength in an alumina-based potting material and exhibiting a qualityfactor Q of at least 5 at an operating temperature of the engine and anoperating frequency of the circuit assembly.